Treatment Options

Helping Yourself

For the Patient:

• A well balanced diet can help you reduce your risk for stroke. A healthful eating plan means choosing the right foods to eat and preparing foods in a healthy way. People whose diets are rich in fruits and vegetables appear to have a significantly lower risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

• Limit the use of alcohol to two drinks a day. Heavy drinking increases the risk of stroke and many other diseases.

• Reduce total cholesterol by eating low-fat or low-cholesterol meals.

• For patients with diabetes, maintain appropriate blood sugar levels by taking your medicine as directed by your doctor and eating a well-balanced diet approved by your doctor or nutritionist.

• Reduce mild to moderate high blood pressure by swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, aerobic dancing, walking, or any of dozens of other activities. Studies consistently find a lower incidence of stroke in people who exercise regularly.

• Ask your doctor if you have circulation problems or an irregular heartbeat, which can increase your risk for stroke.

• If you're a woman, speak to your doctor about hormone replacement therapy and if you experience any symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

• Seek medical attention immediately if you think you are having signs and symptoms of a stroke.

After a stroke:

As much as you may want to return to a normal life, normality may not be easy to achieve. Activities that were once done with ease will now take time to perform. At times you may become angry or sad and you may feel like no one understands what you are experiencing. This may be the time when you want to consider joining a support group. Check with your local hospital or rehab program for local support groups for you and your family members. It's important that you and your family understand the difficulties that lie ahead in living with a stroke.(To learn more about stroke recovery, visit http://www.stroke.org/.)

For the Caregiver:

The process of helping a loved one recover from a stroke can sometimes be stressful. Stroke recovery will vary from patient to patient. Recovering from a stroke usually includes treatment, natural recovery, rehabilitation, and the return to community living.

Treatment for stroke begins in the hospital. This first step includes helping the patient survive, preventing another stroke, and taking care of any other medical problems.

After the stroke, several abilities that have been lost generally start to come back. This process, known as natural recovery, happens to most people. The amount of recovery will also vary from person to person.

Rehabilitation helps the person maintain the abilities they still have and gain back the lost abilities to become more independent. It usually begins while the patient is still in the hospital. For many patients, it continues afterward. The patient, family, and hospital staff will make decisions about rehabilitation before discharge.

The last stage in stroke recovery begins with the person's return to community living after hospitalization or rehabilitation. This stage can last for a lifetime as the stroke survivor and the family learn to live with the effects of the stroke. This may include doing common tasks in new ways or making up for damage to or limits of one part of the body by greater activity of another. For example, a stroke survivor can wear shoes with velcro closures instead of laces or may learn to write with the opposite hand.

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Note: The above information is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of your physician, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to diagnose a health condition, but it can be used as a guide to help you decide if you should seek professional treatment or to help you learn more about your condition once it has been diagnosed.